Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the gathering of the Americans for Prosperity group in Dallas.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the gathering of the Americans for Prosperity group in Dallas.

Photo: LM Otero, Associated Press

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In this Aug. 8, 2014 photo Governor Rick Perry pauses as he addresses attendees at the 2014 Red State convention in Fort Worth, Texas. Two Texans, one White House. Is the 2016 Republican campaign trail big enough? After plummeting from a front-runner to political punchline three years ago, Governor Perry appears poised to run again _ hoping to convince conservatives he can better cope with the national spotlight. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) less

In this Aug. 8, 2014 photo Governor Rick Perry pauses as he addresses attendees at the 2014 Red State convention in Fort Worth, Texas. Two Texans, one White House. Is the 2016 Republican campaign trail big ... more

Photo: Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press

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GOP rivals criticize Obama's leadership

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Dallas --

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky pounced Friday on President Obama's "we don't have a strategy yet" comments about the violent militant faction attacking cities in Iraq - but other potential Republican 2016 presidential hopefuls laid off at an influential conservative gathering.

Perry and Paul are among GOP headliners addressing thousands of delegates this weekend in Dallas at the annual summit of Americans for Prosperity, backed by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. Also speaking are Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and firebrand Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

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"Yesterday, the president admitted he had no strategy to deal with ISIS," Perry said, drawing hoots and hisses as he referred to the Islamic State group. "The deepening chaos in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine is all the clear and compelling evidence the world needs of a president one step behind, lurching from crisis to crisis, always playing catch up."

Paul, meanwhile, fired up the audience by suggesting that Obama's lack of leadership showed he'd been on the job too long. But Pence and Cruz both ducked chances to ding the White House.

Republicans criticizing Obama's foreign policy is nothing new, but there are deepening divisions within the GOP over how to move forward.

The broader debate pits those who favor the GOP's traditional muscular foreign policy - a group that includes Perry and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio - and those, like Paul and Cruz, who prefer a smaller international footprint. The so-called isolationist approach plays well with grassroots activists and a war-weary public, but worries many Republican officials and donors who prefer an aggressive American role in world affairs.

The intra-party divisions largely weren't much on display at the Americans for Prosperity event, but will become clearer as the crowded group of possible presidential candidates tries to distinguish themselves in the coming months.

Some of the loudest applause for Paul came when he quipped: "If the president has no strategy, maybe it's time for a new president."

In an e-mailed comment, however, Paul elaborated by saying: "If I were President, I would call a joint session of Congress. I would lay out the reasoning of why ISIS is a threat to our national security and seek congressional authorization to destroy ISIS militarily."